It’s interesting to read how some say that medical errors make up the third-leading cause
of death according to a CNBC report back in 2018. The CNBC report was reporting on a
recent Johns Hopkins study where they found more than 250,000 people who die in the US
every year from medical errors (Sipherd, 2018). There have been lots of studies done
regarding medical errors. They all seem to have come up with similar reasons why staff
members do not report errors. Some of those errors not reported include fear of legal
prosecution, fear of losing position, focusing on the wrongdoers instead of the error
committed, fear of managerial discrimination, and improper manger reaction were some of
the errors listed by a study conducted at the Jahrom University of Medical Services in
2014 (Badiyepeymaie, Parandavar & Rahmanian, 2014).
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Leaders need to understand that their employees are human and human error is a part of
our world. As it was noted above in the study conducted in Jahrom, errors were not
reported for many reasons, but most seem to have leadership involved and feared
retribution. My organization has implemented the MIDAS system that is used by many
organizations which is a reporting system where staff members can submit anonymous
incident reports of patient safety issues for improvement and analysis (Einsteinmed.edu,
n.d.). Leaders need to create an environment where they learn from errors and improve
patient safety instead of a violent and hostile workplace.
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References
Badiyepeymaie Jahromi, Z., Parandavar, N., & Rahmanian, S. (2014). Investigating factors
associated with not reporting medical errors from the medical team's point of view
in Jahrom, Iran.1Global journal of health science,16(6), 96–104.
https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v6n6p96
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Einsteinmed.edu. (n.d.).1Einstein/Montefiore Department of Medicine: MIDAS+ System
Offers Anonymous Reporting to Improve Patient Safety. Albert Einstein College of
Medicine: https://einsteinmed.edu/departments/medicine/news/midas-anonymous-
reporting-patient-safety.aspx
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Sipherd, R. (2018, Feburary 22).1MODERN MEDICINE:The third-leading cause of death
in US most doctors don’t want you to know about. CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-
america.html
